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4 month old not nursing well, supply decreasing

A friend of mine sent me ask me for help today and I'm not sure what to tell her. her almost 4 month old is not nursing well anymore and seems to only want to play with her nipple or lick it instead of actively nursing but seems hungry. he does latch well sometimes but he is not in any way an aggressive when nursing. She does feed on demand but feels her supply has decreased and the doctor is getting concerned about his weight as well. Even when she pumps and her husband gives him a bottle, he takes about an hour to finish it and is very lazy about sucking. She gave him a pacifier but he can not keep it in his mouth. Any ideas? I have suggested that he may be distracted or that maybe she should try to achieve a letdown first so he doesn't have to work to get milk. I just don't know. She is getting so frustrated and doesn't want her supply to get any worse.
She has started trying to increase it by taking fenugreek.

my name is Sarah mother to
Alana 12/31/98
Conner 5/30/09

Breastfeeding 3 years and counting!

Potty trained at 2 but kind of miss those cute CD's!

"Of all the rights of women, the greastest is to be a mother." Lin Yutang

Re: 4 month old not nursing well, supply decreasing

I think we would need much more information to even begin to help your friend...Many mothers thionk thier supply has decreased at some point but all is normal, if supply HAS decreased, there is a reason and usually something can be done about it. A Baby of four months of age suddenly losing interest in nursing or even bottles (losing interest in eating) and/or not being able to suckle is something else altogether and potentialy very serious...

Can she see an IBCLC? That would be my first suggestion. Call a local LLL Leader? Besides being concerned about baby's gain, did the dr. order any tests or have any ideas on why the baby (possibly) can not suckle effectively?

Milk prduction is increased by the frequent, effective removal of milk from the breasts. If the baby is unable to do this, adding pumping should help. But the real issue is WHY baby can not do this.

Galactagogues such as fenugreek may help, bu the frequent milk removal is key.